The website of the Bulgarian Chess Federation announced that, at the reunion of the Board members, it was decided to disqualify FM Borislav Ivanov for a duration of 4 months.

Ivanov has been suspected in cheating over the past months and faced numerous accusations after he has shown great play against high level players and achieved impressive results at both national and international tournaments. At several occasions, Grandmasters claimed that Ivanov's play was based on first line by "Houdini" and "Rybka", and refused to show up at their games against the Bulgarian. The Bulgarian Chess Federation will start an investigation of his games and tournaments played in the period of the last 9 months.

Borislav Ivanov, 25, 3 years ago. Photo - barlinek.caissa.com.pl

Ivanov himself rejects all the charges, explaining his outstanding play as a result of hard work and trainings. He was searched at one of the tournaments, but no evidence of the accusations could be found. Thus, it can be stated that the decision regarding the temporary disqualification of Ivanov was merely taken on the basis of aroused suspicions.

Borislav Ivanov, several times suspected in cheating, announced he was finishing his chess career, however, he didn't keep his promise - recently, the FM was disqualified from one of the tournaments for similar suspicions.

After being seriously suspectedin cheating Bulgarian player Borislav Ivanov has appeared in the local media for quite frequently. Namely, the website Chessbase draws attention to his interview dated by January 25 and given to Press.Daily.bg.

The Bulgarian Parliamentary Committee for Anti-corruption, Conflict of Interests and Parliamentary Ethics announces that it has terminated the proceedings against the Bulgarian Chess Federation and has notified Regional Prosecutor’s Office about that decision.

Lawyers for FIDE have sent a letter to the Bulgarian chess federation, demanding cooperation in the matter of the Bulgarian player Ivan Tetimov, who was thrown out of a tournament in Benidorm at the end of last year, on suspicion of cheating. The original letter can be found on the FIDE website.

According to the decision of the Supreme Sports Court of Turkey, Ekaterina Atalik has been disqualified for three months instead of 15 months announced earlier by the TCF. She has played without TCF's permission at the European Championship - this is the official reason for disqualification.Thus, she's not accused of playing under the ECU flag.

Bulgarian GM Kiril Georgiev, who was banned for three years by the Bulgarian Chess Federation on Saturday, gave a live interview on our site last night. In the course of an hour-long discussion and question- and-answer session with our listeners, he spoke about his conflict with the Bulgarian Federation and its President, Silvio Danailov. We present some brief extracts in translation below.